16th Av
- Why Specifically the Letter Hei?
- The Alter Rebbe asks: Why did the Sages teach that this world was created specifically with the letter Hei (×”)?
- The answer lies in understanding the vast difference between the physical world and the higher spiritual worlds.
- Infinite Worlds Created Through Divine Letters
- Countless worlds, angels, palaces, and spiritual levels exist.
- All of them are created and sustained through the various combinations of the 22 letters of Divine speech.
- As Sefer Yetzirah teaches, the possible letter combinations are practically limitless.
- Different Beings Receive Different Levels of Divine Revelation
- Angels and higher souls possess wisdom, understanding, and awareness of their Creator.
- This is because their life-force comes from the inner dimension of the Divine letters, which are rooted in Supernal Wisdom (Chochmah).
- Our Physical World Cannot Receive Such Revelation
- The physical world is too limited and coarse to receive the inner Divine light directly.
- If it were revealed openly, the world could not exist as a separate physical reality.
- The World Receives Only the External Dimension
- Therefore, this world is sustained by the external aspect of Divine speech:
- The breath (hevel)
- The outer “body” of the letters
- This is a far more concealed form of Divine energy.
- “By the Word of Hashem”
- The life-force of this world comes from:
“The utterance of the mouth of Hashem.”
- Divine speech is clothed and hidden within creation, allowing physical existence to feel independent.
- The Teaching of the Arizal
- The Arizal explains that the external aspect of Malchut of Atzilut descends and becomes the life-force of the World of Asiyah (Action).
- This corresponds to the lower Hei of the Divine Name.
- The Lower Hei Dwells in Asiyah
- The Tikkunei Zohar teaches:
- Yud corresponds to Atzilut.
- The lower Hei “nests” within Asiyah, the lowest world.
- Since our world belongs to Asiyah, it is associated specifically with the letter Hei.